Momoh Freeman

Photo: Annie Kuster

Momoh Freeman

Momoh Freeman was only 9 years old, but he vividly remembers the first time he heard and saw a church pianist in his home country of Liberia. Freeman was captivated by the sound of the piano and decided he would become a pianist. It was the start of a journey that would take him thousands of miles, to Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church in Chaska.

Freeman’s decision to play piano was no small ambition in one of the poorest countries in the world—one that has been plagued by civil wars and generations of poverty and unemployment. There were no pianos in Freeman’s vicinity, so he began an every-other-day routine of walking 18 miles to a church with a piano, and spending most of a day practicing, teaching himself to play by ear. At 14, Freeman began playing for Sunday church services, relying more on his ear than his rudimentary music-reading skills.

In 2000, Freeman, who is now 27, emigrated to the U.S., following in the footsteps of his mother, Mary, who came here in 1997. While attending Park Center High School in Brooklyn Park, Freeman would arrive at school two hours before class to practice piano and practice another three or four hours after school.

In July 2004, Freeman responded to a help wanted ad seeking a pianist for Shepherd of the Hill. He got the job, and, in the process, has given church members more reason not to miss the 9:30 a.m. Sunday service. With his knack for improvisation, what Freeman can do with traditional hymns like “Elijah Rock,” “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” or “Amazing Grace” is, well, amazing, says Pastor Gordon Stewart. “He can take any hymn and just go with it, and he doesn't know where he is going when he starts.”          

Freeman’s embellishments combine “classical, jazz and gospel in ways that take our breath away, sometimes,” Stewart adds. “He is at his best when he does improv. He has people just hanging on his music.”

Freeman has also bought fellow Liberians Moses Punni and Johnny Russell to the church as guest baritone soloists in morning worship and at Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrations. Their soaring solos also “send shivers down the spine and lift our hearts in joyful praise,” Stewart says.

Before emigrating to the U.S., Freeman had limited exposure to American music. “The only music I heard was from our culture, except for a little bit of hip hop,” Freeman says. “And my parents listened to Kenny Rogers.”

In 2006 a friend took him to the Sunday night jam at Famous Dave’s in Uptown where he first heard blues and American rhythm & blues in person. “I said ‘Oh, my God, I want to learn this music,’” Freeman says.

In addition to his work with the church, Freeman is currently attending Anoka Ramsey Community College working on an associate’s degree, and he would eventually like to earn an M.A. in music. He’s also working on a CD of his original music, with vocals, and an instrumental CD of church music. He’d like to finish those in time to release them this spring.

When he’s not tearing up Sunday services at Shepherd of the Hill, Freeman plays piano with Eddy Bungalow, a local jam band, at places like the Golden Valley VFW, Whiskey Junction and Blue Nile, and he’s played reggae and African music with other local groups. He also plays piano on Saturdays at a Seventh Day Adventist Church in South Minneapolis.

As impressive as Freeman's musical skills may be, he is as impressive a person, Stewart contends. “There was a time he and his mother were in financial need. I had spoken with Momoh and he was going through some stuff. He didn't know how he was going to pay for school,” Stewart recalls. “The next day, he came in with a large bag full of canned goods for the food shelf. When he learns someone in congregation is ill, he's one of the first people to ask about them. He’s just a caring guy.”

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